


Inside Out

by matteahayn



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Gen, Sleepover Fic, bandmate bonding, boys in nail polish, disney movie night, juke, willex maybe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:47:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27268231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/matteahayn/pseuds/matteahayn
Summary: Just a little JaTP sleepover fic set during season 2 once the plot has settled.They all paint their nails and watch Inside Out, which turns out to be a little more eventful than expected.(Mild Inside Out spoilers)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 116





	Inside Out

“Okay, you guys can come in,” Julie called to the boys (well, ghosts ) who were waiting outside of her door for her to change into her purple silk pajama set. Luke popped open the door and suddenly all three of her bandmates were standing there: Luke in blue sweatpants and a gray tank-top, Reggie in red and black flannel pants and black t-shirt, and Alex in his classic pink t-shirt and gray cotton short shorts. They smiled at her nervously until Reggie’s eyes caught the food sitting on her bed.   
“Pizzzaaaaa!” he yelled, leaping forward and sliding across the comforter.   
“Wait-” Julie tried to warn him as he popped open the box, but it was too late. He had already shoved a large slice of pepperoni in his mouth. “It’s still hot,” she sighed as the bassist’s face widened. He had obviously burnt his tongue. He swallowed the rest of the mouthful quickly. Julie rolled her eyes as Luke and Alex laughed good-humoredly. “Here,” the girl offered them all plates. Reggie dropped his food eagerly on the plate, grateful to not have the steaming slice in his hands anymore.   
“What did you guys want to do first?” Alex asked as they all served up their dinner.   
“Well, I was thinking we could do our nails?” Julie suggested. The blond boy’s eyes lit up.   
“Really? We can do that?” He cut in. His voice was a little shaky. “I’ve… I’ve always wanted to.” He looked down shyly.   
“Of course!” Julie hummed, sitting down on the edge of her bed.   
“Thank you,” the drummer breathed. He slid in next to her to place his hand on her shoulder gratefully. His eyes expressed words he wasn’t gonna say: they always encouraged him to embrace his fullest self. He wouldn’t know how to dress or now do his nails without Luke or Julie.   
“What about you guys?” the hostess turned to the other boys. “Are you guys down?”   
“Yeah, I’m down,” Luke shrugged as he settled himself on the beanbag next to the bed in the casual way he always had about him. “As long as you have black.”   
“Pshhhhhhh,” Julie scoffed. “Of COURSE I have black.” Her eyes narrowed for a second as she debated whether to judge him for his color choice. “It will suit you,” she decided. Luke smirked, and she turned away to hide her blush. “Reggie!” she gulped, eager to change the subject. “What about you?”   
“Uhhhhh, I’m not so sure,” he admitted.   
“Awww. c’mon,” Luke protested.   
“Pleaseeeeee,” Alex begged.   
“You don’t want to at least try it? We can take it right off if you want,” Julie’s voice was soft and sympathetic. She reached across the pizza box to the head of the bed where Reggie was sitting. She placed her hand on his and he looked down at her.   
“Okay,” he winced, relenting his trust. There was a cry of cheers from the crowd. 

After about 30 minutes, they had all eaten a meal of pizza, soda, chips, and candy, and their nails were all done up courtesy of Julie.   
“Thank you so much, Julie,” Alex grinned, blowing on his hot pink nails to dry them. “I love it!”   
“I wonder how they’ll look with my guitar,” Luke mumbled. He snapped his jet black fingers like he was going to summon his instrument but Julie halted him.   
“Stop!” she shouted. “You’ll smudge them!” They all laughed.   
“How do mine look?” Reggie asked. He held up his sparkly blue nails to his face.   
“Great!” Julie smiled honestly. “And not just because I was the one who did them.”   
“They really do look good,” Luke agreed. Reggie’s face lit up at the encouragement.   
“Really?” he gulped, striking a pose in the mirror. His shoulders rose as a wave of confidence washed over him.   
“I still need to do mine,” Julie reminded them after a moment. “But we can start a movie.” She walked over to the TV that had been wheeled into her room and started flipping through the movies. “I don’t know if you’ve seen most of these…” Alex got up from the bed to join her.   
“This one looks good,” he shrugged, pulling one out from the stack.   
“Inside Out! Good choice!” Julie smiled when she saw what he had picked. She started the movie as the boys all settled into position. Alex leaned against the end of her bed, Luke stayed in the beanbag, and Reggie on the bed between the lead guitarist and Julie.   
Just as Julie was shaking the bottle of polish, the first scene unfurled.   
“The animation on this is insane!” Alex observed.   
“It’s just CGI…..” Julie mumbled, still concentrating on her metallic purple nails.   
“This whole thing is CGI?” Alex marveled. Julie looked over at him in surprise, and then laughed when she realized what a feat that was to him. 25 years had done a lot for movie production.   
“Yeah, pretty much all movies are now,” she explained.   
“Woahhh,” Alex breathed, turning back to the film. They all settled back, finding something about the film to relate to. 

After about another 20 minutes, a loud rap on the window broke the friends from their film. The phantoms jumped back and Julie narrowed her eyes at them skeptically. Why were they the scared ones?   
“It’s a ghost!” Reggie shouted shakily. All the heads turned to look at him confusedly. Before anyone could give a retort, a muffled voice sounded.   
“Actually, yeah,” Willie laughed, his face appearing at the glass. Everyone’s shoulders relaxed as they realized the intruder was their friend. They settled back in their spots as Julie got up to let him in. She creaked open the window and the cold winter air streamed in. Willie floated in, shutting the panes behind him before the wind could slam it shut. “I, uh, hope you don’t mind if I join you,” he smirked nervously.   
“As long as you let me do your nails,” Julie offered, placing her hand on her hip.   
“Oh, okay,” the skater shrugged. His hair flipped behind him as he followed her to the edge of the bed and picked out a camo green color. Alex looked over and smiled approvingly. “Ooh, I like this movie!” Wille said when he realized what was playing.   
“You’ve seen it?” Reggie asked.   
“You haven’t?” Willie asked. “They haven’t?” He looked at Julie and shook her head knowingly.   
“Oh boy,” Willie breathed. Alex gave him a concerned look.   
“What? Why?” the blond boy asked nervously.   
“You’re gonna cry,” the skater insisted.   
“No I’m not,” Alex huffed, puffing up his chest.   
“Okay, sure,” Willie smirked, but his eyes were twinkling when they met Alex’s. 

Sure enough, Willie was right. They could barely hear Bing Bong say “Fly Riley to the moon for me” over the sound of Alex sobbing. Willie, who was sitting next to him at the foot of them, wrapped his arm around the drummer and started rubbing his shoulders. To be fair, everyone was starting to get a little misty, because it was almost impossible not to.   
The real waterworks didn’t come until more towards the end of the movie, however. The main character was on a bus out of town when Julie looked over to see Luke shaking.   
“Luke,” she gasped and slipped off her bed to join him on the beanbag. “Are you okay?” she asked, wrapping her arm around his shoulders. He looked up at her with silent tears streaming down his cheeks.   
“She...she left her parents,” Luke groaned. Everyone’s faces fell further. They seemed to not be sure whether they should keep eye contact or not.   
“Oh, Luke,” Julie breathed. “I’m so sorry.” She hadn’t even made the connection that the themes of the movie would hit so close to home for the lead guitarist.   
“I miss them,” the curly dark-haired boy admitted, referring to his own parents and the way he had left them.   
“I know,” she nodded in sympathy. “But we’re your family too.” Luke looked up gratefully and he couldn’t hide his smile. “Bring it in guys,” Julie motioned to the other boys and they all jumped and wrapped each other in a hug, just as Riley reunited with her family on the screen. Turns out, a cathartic moment was just what they needed for their sleepover movie night.


End file.
